JailBreak!
by RavenTears
Summary: Hilde's been courtmarshalled and sent to prison for helping a certain braided Gundam pilot escape. As she rots in her cell, what scheme does Duo cook up, now that he's escaped the Lunar Base? R&R! ^_~
1. First Installment

JailBreak

Installment One

Hilde looked around her cell. It wasn't _too_ bad, she concluded. She was lucky enough to be female, though. Women were separated from the men, and since she was probably the only woman in the prison, she had the cell all to herself. She looked around again at the four by eight cement room that had been her home for almost a month already and would be her home for the next three to five years, with time off for good behavior. She didn't really mind being incarcerated. It was definitely an improvement from living on the streets, though not as comfortable as a soldier's barracks. But she had made the right decision, she was certain of that. That Gundam pilot Duo Maxwell was right about OZ. . .he had to be. 

Would a Gundam pilot lie to save his own skin? _No_, she told herself firmly. This was not the time to start doubting her choices. She had been right. Duo had been right. Besides, weren't the Gundam pilots fighting to protect the colonies? And if _she_ wanted to protect the colonies, the best thing to do was to support the Gundam pilots. Hilde lied back on her cot, closed her eyes, and for the millionth time tried to bring his image into her mind's eye. She had to admit, he was cute. But she'd never see him again, she knew, so she tried to refocus her thoughts on her friends in the outside world. 

How were they doing without her sending money every week? She hated to think of the three kids she'd come to see as her adopted brothers and sister having to go back to stealing for food and clothes, but she knew that if they had to, they'd survive. And then there was gentle old Bridget who had become her grandmother over the past five years. Hilde knew she only had a little income from the government. When her husband had been killed during a squabble on Earth with the Alliance and some rebels, the Alliance had sent her a small monthly check for the past several years to help the widow. Since Operation Daybreak however, she no longer received government compensation and was relying on Hilde's checks as well. 

The elderly woman had always been a kind soul to the street kids in her neighborhood. Hilde didn't know _how_ she would've survived on the streets without Bridget's soups every evening. The soups had been thin, but they were always hot, and Bridget invariably had some stories for the street brats, as they were called on L2A211, the closest colony to the Lunar base. 

Hilde worried about them now. Janis, Quentin, and Marc all had pretty much the same background. Their families had all been killed by some military force, whether it had been the Alliance or OZ was impossible to tell anymore, Hilde realized. Since OZ had hidden itself in the Alliance Specials Division, it could have been OZ that had killed all their families and destroyed their homes. Janis and Quentin were both born and raised on the streets of L2A211, but Marc had done as she had, and stowed away on a ship bound for some unknown spaceport, managing to end up on this small colony. 

She realized now that maybe being in prison wasn't as good as it had seemed when she was first sentenced. If she was incarcerated, there was no _way_ they could get the money they so desperately needed. _Now I'll have to find a way out of here or my conscience won't leave me alone for the next three to five years,_ she told herself. 

Just then she heard the sound of boots walking toward her cell. Since she was the only prisoner at this end of the row, she knew it had to be her comman-, _former_ commanding officer. She knew he only came because he had to. It was his duty as her former commanding officer to talk to her for an hour at least once a week, which in Hilde's case, was usually a monologue. It was his punishment for not disciplining her enough and it made it look like the organization was doing something about the rebels rather than just locking them up or executing them, especially when they were colony citizens. 

Actually, Hilde hadn't been a citizen of _this_ colony until she had joined OZ, and in their haste to recruit colonists to further their political machine, they had overlooked the fact that she had no birth certificate, passport, social security number, or discernable past in their database. OZ had quickly filled out the paperwork for her and now she was a legitimate colony citizen. In any case, the colonists would be in an uproar if they ever learned that OZ had executed their people instead of trying to "rehabilitate" them. Personally, Hilde would prefer to be placed in front of a firing squad than "rehabilitated" by OZ. 

Hilde heard the footfalls getting closer and didn't bother opening her eyes. _Let the dickhead think I'm sleeping,_ she thought to herself. Hilde heard the boots stop outside her cell._ Here it comes, _she was saying in her head, _another lecture. Maybe he'll even have the balls to bring up the old "don't let your physical attractions impair your judgments" speech. Like he should talk. _Hilde mentally stuck her tongue out at the mini Unit Chief Dickhead running past her mind's eye with his crotch on fire. 

"Rise and shine, Babe!" Hilde sat bolt upright, banging her head on the bunk over hers. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	2. The Second Course

JailBreak

Installment Two

"You know, you oughtta feel pretty special. I made it all the way in here and there isn't a single female prisoner besides you! There isn't even an _opportunity_ for a nice communal shower cat-fight!" Hilde stared at him and his cocky, if not slightly lewd, grin in shock. Part of her wanted to break down crying, another wanted to run into the embrace he was hinting that he wouldn't object to, and yet another wanted to smash him into tiny little pieces of testosterone. "None of my Gundam training prepared me for infiltrating a women's prison. But based on my cinematic observations, this is kinda disappointing. I mean c'mon, your shirt's not even torn!" That settled the three-way argument in her head.

"Duo, I'm gonna kill you!" Hilde seethed. Duo pouted dejectedly, crossing his arms like a three-year-old, and looking threateningly close to stamping his foot. 

"Fine. I can see when I'm not wanted! Fortunately for you, I never look. So, Hot-stuff, whaddya say you and me go out and grab a bite to eat?"

"What the heck are you doing here? What if you get caught? _ How_ did you get in here? What about the guards?"

"Getting you out, don't worry about it, I walked in the front door, and they can't do a _thing_ to stop me." And with the word "thing," Duo swiped a key card over the lock and the door creaked open.

"Is this where I fling myself into your arms and cry 'my hero!' Will you sweep me off my feet, and then later on expect me to show my eternal gratitude behind closed doors?" she posed.

"Well, if you're offering. . ." Duo smirked and his eyes held a glimmer of mischief.

"Definitely not, at least until I know how you plan on getting me out of here." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're already out." 

"Oh really?" Hilde quirked a brow, in confusion and disbelief.

"Here is all the documentation you need to waltz right out of this joint." Duo pulled from a fold in his shirt a few papers and handed them with a great flourish to Hilde who stood to read them. She quickly leafed through the documents, her eyes widening with each sentence.

". . .how. . ?" was all she managed to get out. The papers had all of her information, the charges brought against her and the dates of her trial, and the official turnover of her verdict as prescribed by one Inspector General. . .Maxwell!? 

"Duo, there's no Inspector General _Maxwell!_"

"That's not what the computers say. . .and the computers have even more authority than Treize."

"When they catch this error in the system, I'll be in worse trouble than I am now!"

"Nah, you have far too much faith in your former superiors. Assuming they _do_ catch it, It won't be for at least a couple of months, and it's a helluvalot better for _their_ image to keep it covered up. Besides, by that time, you can be safely settled somewhere far off their radar. I haven't been able to hook up with the others, so I'll be sure to see you off right." Hilde didn't know whether to be elated or insulted. With a wry grin he waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. Once again, the argument in her head was settled. Without the obstacle of the cell door to impair her motions, Duo found himself intimately aquatinted with Hilde. With her fist, anyway. . ..

"That's gratitude for ya. . ." he wheezed, "I guess now I'd call us even for that stunt I pulled with the duffle bag. . .. C'mon, dinner's on me. I'm gonna treat you to the most lavish meal of your life. No expense will be spared. Now, which way to the nearest burger joint?" Hilde blinked a couple of times, then found herself being dragged haphazardly down the corridor. She pulled herself up and trotted to catch up to him. Watching the guy in front of her intently, she wondered about what had transpired. 

What was so strange about him? If any other man had said _half_ the things _he'd_ said to her, he'd be in intensive care. But with Duo, everything seemed so natural. Like they'd been going back and forth like this for years. What was it about him? 

Hilde was so lost in thought, she didn't notice the guards that they passed giving them sidelong glances, or even the male prisoners catcalling. The only thing that broke her out of her reverie was the artificial sun glaring into her eyes once they were outside the prison complex. Duo paused outside the gates, either to get his bearings or lookout for anyone who might recognize him, leaving Hilde to revel in her freedom for a few precious moments. After taking a few refreshing breaths of recycled air, she smiled at Duo, forgetting to be mad at him for forcing her into the damsel in distress role and easily slipping himself into shining- er. . .black armor. Hilde glanced down and realized that he hadn't released her hand. She decided not to mention it.

"You wouldn't happen to know of someplace safe we can go until your unit leaves again, wouldjya?" Duo asked rubbing the back of his head with a silly smile.

"I thought you plan was idiot-proof," Hilde countered with a smug look.

"A'course it is. . .. I just think it would be smarter to try to lie low for a few days. . ." he answered sheepishly.

"Well, I guess that's as close as I'm gonna get to you to admitting imperfection," Hilde smirked. 

This time _she _was the one doing the dragging. She pulled him down street after street, wide avenues retrogressing into narrow roads, roads retrogressing into cluttered alleys. Soon she was in familiar territory. She followed the maze of alleyways and parking lots, past poverty stricken homes and low-grade restaurants. While running past a group of kids playing soccer with a worn ball in an empty lot, littered with rubbish and the scrap metal, she yelled out when the destitute youths scored a point in the makeshift goal box crafted out of pipes and a discarded MS camouflage net. 

This was _her_ home turf, and she didn't care if Duo knew it. She felt no inhibitions at all to let him in on one of her most guarded secrets. And even she had to admit, she hid it well. She was sure none of her fellow officers knew her background. From they way she talked and carried herself, they probably thought she was just a kid like themselves, maybe home schooled or even a rich girl who went to a boarding school. Meanwhile, everyone on the outside thought she was just another colony kid who had signed up with the other students. Neither side knew that she hadn't attended school since she was ten and had lived on the streets for the past five years.

Duo looked this girl he was following up and down. She was so. . .alive. How was it that she had been so willing to throw that life away just for OZ only a month ago? She intrigued him. She could meet him blow for blow in a battle of wits, and from what he'd seen, she wasn't half bad in a Suit, either. 

Duo looked at his surroundings, trying to get his bearings. Where was she taking him? The streets kept getting narrower, and the buildings in more disrepair. Soon they were traveling through alleys and behind stores. _Is this haven of hers in a ghetto? _he asked himself. Duo never had her picked as the type to affiliate with. . .those of lesser income. Duo was trying to remember how they had gotten to their current location, (_Now was it around the parking lot, down the alley with the Chinese restaurant, and **then** behind the deli, or was it behind the deli, down the alley, and **then** around the parking lot? Or was it **across** the parking lot? Dammit!) _when he heard Hilde yell. He glanced in the direction she was looking and saw some street kids in a game of soccer. _They shouldn't be playing with all that MS debris_, Duo thought, old habits sneaking up on him. But what really surprised him was that Hilde seemed so friendly to them. . .not snobby at all. She almost fit right in. But that couldn't be, could it? She came off like she was with the school program sending students into OZ, and Duo guessed that only half of _these_ kids went to school. They finally stopped at the back of an old deteriorating apartment building that teemed with life. Looking the building up and down, he saw that it was probably over a century old. The cement walls were webbed with cracks and whatever windows that weren't boarded up were too dirty to see through to the inside. The stoop on which they were standing was littered with trash and broken glass, and weeds were slowly breaking it apart with their roots. Hilde was banging on the door and calling out in German.

"Bridget! It's Hilde! I'm back!" Hilde shouted in her parents' ancient language. This brought a number of faces out their respective windows and people onto the fire escapes. Hilde waved to them all and they shouted back in a number of languages. The door in front of them flew open and Hilde turned back to the frame in the doorjamb. An elderly women of about seventy came out in a worn flower print dress and house slippers, leaning on a trite wooden cane. Her white hair was pulled tightly back, but a few strands strayed and fell to frame her face. Her eyes, once a bright crystal blue, were dulled by cataracts. Her withered face brightened warmly into a wide smile when she saw Hilde at the door. Hilde released Duo's hand for the first time since he had taken it back at the penitentiary and hugged the old woman like she would've her _real_ grandmother.

"Hilde! Child!" Bridget said in standard with a heavy Irish accent, "When the letters stopped coming we were all so worried our dark little angel had gone and gotten herself killed for wicked old OZ!"

"I'm sorry to have worried you, Bridget, and I'm also sorry about not being able to send the money. . ."

"Oh, hush child! I don't need you throwing away your hard earned credits on a useless old fool like me!" Bridget pulled away and held her at arms length, looking her over in her dirty OZ uniform. All emblems and stripes had been removed, but it was still obvious to anyone that she was or had been a soldier.

"But-" 

"Not another word of it!" Bridget saw past Hilde for the first time and looked Duo up and down. Duo fidgeted. He wasn't sure he'd been quiet for so long in his life, but he hadn't wanted to interrupt them. Besides, he was getting so much useful background information this way! Maybe he should shut up more often. . .nah, the shock would probably drive Heero to self detonate again.

"So, we are all crawling the walls with worry, and you've gone and run off with some cute face? Tsk, tsk. . .. I thought I taught you better than that?" She gave Hilde a teasing glance. Before the shock of that statement had worn off enough for her to defend herself, Duo graciously stepped in on her behalf. Literally. 

Duo tactfully shoved her aside with a florid bow and a manic grin. Encouraged by the old woman's delighted laughter at his display, he went so far as to tip his hat back cockily with a flick of his forefingers before crossing his arms blithely over his chest looking for all the world like the cat who had found the cream. And opened it. And finished it off without anyone the wiser. 

"This pretty face belongs to the one and only Duo Maxwell, I run, I hide, but I never tell a lie." With that, his arm snaked unannounced around Hilde's waist to drag her up against his side with an audible 'umph' on her, still stunned (and increasingly annoyed), part. "Yep, me and Sweet-cheeks here have up and run off together, sorry about the worry and all, but we've just been so busy running around, what with her discharge from OZ on my behalf. Now is that romance or is that romance? Hey! Y'know I just thought of something! Since we've already got our lives on hold for each other and everything, why don't we just take the whole shebang and find us some friendly old neighborhood priest and make everything all nice and legal, then we won't have any pesky worries about 'living in sin' or getting her in trouble and-oof!"

His jubilant spiel was rudely interrupted by her elbow to his stomach, and she shot him a glare that promised a lower blow if he kept going. However, Duo had already perfected his immunity to the Heero Yuy death glare, and Hilde's vague shadow of it barely kept him from going into possible flower arrangements.

Bridget noted calmly that while Hilde had blatantly expressed her displeasure at Duo's line of conversation, she had not gone so far as to pry herself out of his possessive embrace. . .. 

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to wait a couple of years. . ." He screwed up his face thoughtfully, tipping his gaze toward the holographic projection of a sky. "After all, I'm not sure I want to commit myself to having her snoring in my ear _every_ night. . .. And you know she can be kind of lax in her attention to wardrobe," Meanwhile, Duo's hand had taken up a thoughtful stroke along the curve of her hip that might have seemed intimate, if not for the careless manner in which it was executed -- rather as though he might as well have been chewing on the end of a pen. Hilde's face was turning a variety of colors under his ministration as her emotions flared between equal parts of embarrassment, fury, and something she couldn't quite place. . ..

"Where did you pick up this Blarney-tongued blackguard? I suppose you culled him out of a litter of new recruits?"

"Hey now!" Hilde found herself suddenly thrust from his grasp as his hands slammed defiantly to his hips and he bent forward to add a somewhat silly air of importance to his current tongue lashing, "Just because Baby-cakes here _tried_ to sign me up and _maybe_ I let my hormones unbalance my judgment long enough to try on the uniform does not make! Me! A! Bad! Guy!" On that note he actually _did _stamp his foot, canceling out whatever severity his speech had entailed. "In fact, you oughtta be thanking me lady; if not for me she'd probably still be out there with gundanium stars in her eyes trying like hell to get herself killed for the wrong side! And for that matter, where do you get off calling me a 'Blarney-tongued blackguard'? What in the seven hells is a blackguard?! Y'know, I'm probably one of the best guys around this sink hole these days, I'll have you know I was raised in a church, might even turn minister one of these days, and who'll be laughing then? Huh? Whatchya gotta say to that? A God-fearing family man is a helluvalot better than some street punk even if he did get himself into a messy situation or two. And while we're on the subject, I wanna know what-"

He was cut off by a quick jab from Bridget's cane to his already tender stomach. "That is quite enough out of you, young man. Come inside and fill your mouth with something other than your tongue." Duo rubbed his abused abdomen and pouted. Hilde tugged on his braid, enticing a sulk from Duo. Bridget turned with a smug look and walked back through the doorway, the pair following, and Hilde closed the rotting door behind them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	3. Third Time's a Charm

JailBreak

Installment Three

Hilde wedged the door closed with a final yank and turned back to the familiar one room apartment. The bare wood floors creaked under her step as she moved to the center of the room to reinforce her old memories. She crossed the room and stood in front of a bookshelf filled to capacity with worn novels, their canvas covers scratched and threads fraying along the edges. Along the top of the bookshelf were countless homemade wooden frames, their occupants mostly photos of young children, all tired and dirty, but also all smiling.

Duo walked into the room and was met with a sight he was all too acquainted with. The one room was small and cramped, a bed pushed to the far corner, a small oven and range along the opposite wall standing beside a refrigerator. The walls were packed with shelves full of mementos from her life long commitment to the ragamuffins gracing the top of her bookcase. He walked up behind Hilde and let his gaze meander across the photos over her shoulder. Duo paused in a moment of rare serenity to consider those bright faces. . .and how easily interchangeable they were with the ones he had known. . .had been. . .and had probably left in his wake. His chest was crushed by a sudden wave of remorse at the thought of the lives he had taken and the orphans he had undoubtedly created. His eye caught Hilde glancing up at him and he quickly smiled at her. Instead of smiling back and forgetting about the strange glimpse into his serious side like everyone else did, she furrowed her brow and looked at him questioningly. She wasn't buying it. Duo racked his brain trying to think of some way to quickly reassemble his happy-go-lucky facade, but before he could do anything she turned back to the photos. Duo let out a silent sigh of relief that she had only questioned him with her eyes and not her voice, though he wasn't sure if the look she had given him hadn't been any worse than the Spanish Inquisition, despite the fact that not a word had been uttered between them.

Hilde had felt, rather than seen, Duo walk up behind her. She quickly suppressed the blush creeping up her cheeks when she felt his breath caress her bare neck and tried to focus on the photos. Her eyes searched for the single photo of her when she was ten and still had long dark hair. She wasn't sure why, but Hilde suddenly became self conscious and hoped Duo didn't recognize the smiling girl in the photo as the suicidal pilot he had saved from OZ's brainwashing. She glanced up to see where his eyes were focused only to catch a remarkably out of character look of depression on his usually carefree face. When he saw her looking however, he quickly smiled at her, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. . .. Hilde watched him, confused, but after a few moments, she realized they were staring at each other and quickly turned back to the photos, seeking out hers. She couldn't get her mind off the look on his face, though, she found. Her thoughts continued to wander to it while they looked at the pictures. He just looked so sad, and it made her want to hold him and tell him everything was okay, though she was sure she could never do that, and didn't even know why she wanted to. Hilde found her photo in the dead center of all the others tried to keep Duo from finding it too.

Duo was content to watch her facial expressions rather than think about sad things like the people he had killed or his younger life. He was amazed she had let him keep his hand on her hip. He thought she'd clobber him for sure on that one, but here he was -- in one piece. He liked holding her, and he liked being close to her. He'd tried to be as normal as possible on that one, and it wasn't hard. His arm felt right at home around her waist, and her body seemed to fit perfectly against his. The hard part was acting nonchalant. He had to force himself to look like it was no big deal that he was latched onto this beautiful girl. His heart even fell a little when she released his hand at the door. Duo had not forgotten the feel of her small hand, calloused from MS piloting, in his larger and stronger one, and he doubted he ever would. Her looks were very deceiving, he realized. If one looked on her from afar, they would only see a small girl, but as soon as she was backed into a corner, she could probably claw her way out like a tigress, possibly taking out men twice her size. 

Duo was picturing that jerk Chief of hers in a fist fight with Hilde (Hilde was winning), when he noticed a flickering change in her eyes. He was about to look back at the photos to see what had caused it when she turned away and walked over to Bridget who was bent over the range, boiling water or something. The older woman wiped her hands on a dish rag and turned to see Hilde walking toward her.

"Bridget, it's getting late -- where are-" Before she could finish, Bridget raised her hand and smiled.

"I know what your going to ask. They are probably outside dawdling until I yell at them to come in and eat. I'll go call them in. . .." She turned to the door, but Hilde stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Let them stay out a little longer. . .it'll be dark soon, they should enjoy it while they can."

"Nonsense, child. They'll be thrilled that you came home! Besides, they'll probably be mad at me for not calling them in as soon as you got here as it is," she said with a smirk. She turned back around and jerked the door open once again, Hilde and Duo following. Bridget stood out in the middle of the alley, Duo on the stoop, while Hilde's small frame barely blocked the doorway. The old woman cupped her hands to her mouth and took a deep breath before yelling, "Marcus, Janis, Quentin! It's time you three came in! There's someone here to see you! You better get your hides in here 'afore I have to come looking for you!"

There was a distinct creaking of metal moving against metal, then a scuffling of feet followed by the resounding clink of a tin can hitting the ground. What sounded suspiciously like hushed voices moving almost inaudibly on the air piqued Duo's interest; the childish pitch sparked a familiarity in him that was hard to ignore. Three peaked faces blossomed from the darkness, leaving Duo stunned with deja vu. When Hilde pressed past him to join Bridget in their line of vision, the wary urchins abandoned their relative safety to hurtle themselves at her with shrieks and yells of elation. "Hilderberry!"

"Hilderberry?"

"Huckleberry-Hilde!"

"Schwopapa?"

"Hildeeeeeeeeeey!"

"Oh boy..." He received a prompt elbow in his ribs. He looked up to glare only to realize it had come from Bridget. He held his tongue. For a while.

*

An hour later Duo found himself seated on the floor between Hilde and a dusty, dark haired boy who kept giving him covert looks, a bowl of watery soup resting in his lap. He'd accepted it, along with a stale slab of bread, out of courtesy, but he didn't have the heart to do more than nibble at it, knowing all too well how much an extra meal meant around here. Hilde had barely touched her portion either, but that was because of the amicable conversation she was eagerly having in turns with the three children. She seemed to have nearly forgotten his presence all together, and that was fine by him. He was learning plenty by sitting back and listening avidly to everything she candidly said, now that she was safe at home with her family. That thought brought a snide smirk to his lips, and at the same time, a wistful glimmer to his eyes. He shook it off immediately. A single question jarred him out of his respite.

"Are you going to go back to jail, Hildey?" Innocent words from an innocent mouth, looking on with innocent eyes. He realized he was holding his breath for her answer.

"No." The freckled girl seemed slightly disconcerted by her terse response.

"Don't be stupid, Jani," Quentin scolded his sister. "People who break out of jail don't go _back. _Unless they get caught, of course."

"Oh. . .. Are you going to get caught, Hildey?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Duo verbally stepped in with an air of confidence.

"I'm glad. Geoffrey used to live down the street, but he went to jail for stealing from a neighbor and hasn't come back yet." Hilde's eyes darkened.

"Jani, Geoff died in jail, remember? He's not coming back." The girl's brown eyes looked up at her blankly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Marcus took the opportunity to change the subject.

"So what was it like in jail? Were there big burly guys with names like Bubba and Earl?"

"No," was all he got for an answer.

"Well didjya get into any fights?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it, Marc." Crestfallen, he allowed Quentin to steer the conversation in another direction.

"So are you gonna go back to fighting? I bet the Alliance would love to get their hands on some new recruits."

"There's no good money there. And money is what I need right now."

"C'mon Hilde," the ten-year-old Quentin defended. "You know as well as we do that we can get along without you sending us credits that you can't spare."

"I don't want to see you three just 'getting along', Quent." It seemed the boy had touched a nerve, as Hilde went on. "I want to see you getting _ahead_. You should all be in school, but you're not. You have to spend your day trying to steal what you need to live."

"You haven't gone to school in five years, and you're doing OK."

"Look at me, Marc. Do I really look 'OK' to you? I certainly don't feel OK, but I would go through it all again if I thought it would help you three. I would spend the rest of my life in solitary confinement if that was what it took to give you normal lives."

"They put you into solitary confinement?"

"Yes."

"For how long?" Janis asked quietly.

"One week for the assault of an officer."

"You assaulted an officer?" Duo was surprised, to say the least.

"He had it coming."

"I'm sure he deserved ever fracture you gave him. But what are your intentions now, Missy?" Bridget eyed her while sopping up soup with a piece of bread. Hilde smirked slightly.

"With all these soldiers around I bet I could rake it in as a prostitute- Ow!" She picked up the heel of bread and handed it back to Bridget before brushing the crumbs out of her hair.

"I never want to hear you even joking about something like that. Your lucky to have gotten so far in your life without being forced into that line of work. I've seen children your age an' younger already dying of the syphilis."

"Yes ma'am."

"And that's another thing! Since when are you too old to be callin' me Grandma Bee like the others? You act like yer fifteen goin' on forty."

"But Granny," Janis was explaining, "Hildey is a Mobile Suit pilot now. She _is_ all grown up."

"She even brought someone home with her this time," Quentin supported. "She's never done _that_ before."

"I bet she's fallen in love with him," Marc teased in German. Duo wasn't sure what the kid had said, but Hilde's reaction was very amusing.

"M-Marcus!" she managed to choke out. She wished she had never taught them all the language. On second thought, it was good that she had, because otherwise he'd just have said it in standard.

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage!" The three of them were ganging up on her. All she could do was pray that Duo didn't speak German. When she saw him laughing his intestines into knots, though, she realized he didn't have to; the tune was very recognizable.

Fortunately, she was saved from taking any immediate action by Bridget's cane rapping them lightly on the head, once apiece.

"It is very rude of you to talk so that our guest cannot understand, but it is even worse to embarrass Hilde so. Let us at least _pretend_ that we're civilized enough to hold a polite conversation."

"Yes Gram!" The chorused in mock salute.

"Which reminds me. . .Hilde, your friend Alexis came by about a month ago looking for your legal guardian." Hilde's hand hovered over her meal.

"And. . ?"

"And I met her out on the street and convinced her that I was your grandmother." Hilde relaxed and let a breath escape. "Janis, dear, would you go get the envelope Alexis gave me? You know where it is." With a nod Janis got up off the floor and scuffled over to the bookshelf. She found Hilde's photograph and took the crooked frame off the shelf, handing it to Bridget. Bridget fumbled with the latch on the back for a minute before handing it to Hilde to open.

"Sorry Angel, but my rheumatism's acting up. The letter is behind the picture." Hilde noticed Duo looking over her shoulder at the picture and quickly flipped it over. After undoing the latch she pried the splintered wooden back off and a pristine white envelope fell into her lap.

Duo had immediately recognized the girl in the photo as Hilde. She must've been about nine or ten in the picture, judging by her height relative the doorframe she was leaning on and the missing canine in her smile. Her blue-black hair fell about halfway down her back and was pulled into two uneven pigtails. The clothes she was wearing were oversized, so much so that the collar of the sweater she was wearing almost fell off her shoulders and the hem was around her knees. Before he could inspect it further, though, she caught him scrutinizing it and flipped it over. He was pleased with the blush staining her cheeks and decided that watching her was better than a mere picture any day.

He was brought back to reality by Hilde's "hmph" and accompanying smirk as she read over the contents of the letter.

"Well what does it say?" Marc was looking up at her expectantly. In fact, everyone was looking at her, waiting for an explanation.

"My uncle finally kicked it."

"And?" Bridget pressed.

"And after all these years he's admitting that I'm alive. . .he left everything to me."

"Yay!" cried Quentin, Janis, Marc. . .and Duo.

"No, not 'yay'," she corrected while she continued to read. "'Everything' includes debts. And Uncle Werner was a terrible gambler. If I want to collect on my inheritance, I have to go talk to the appointed lawyer on. . .R186." Duo seemed to be the only one who didn't know why a strange hush had fallen over the group. He looked around confusedly before hazarding a question.

"What does that mean?"

"That means I'd have to go home."

"So what do you plan on doing, Angel?" Bridget stood and took everyone's dish, and Hilde rose to help.

"What are you talking about? There's no point in going back there." Hilde stuffed the letter back into its envelope before tucking it into her pocket. "Why waste that much of my savings on a ticket to R186, just to be saddled with what probably killed Werner in the first place? No thank you." She took the bowls from Bridget and walked over to the sink. "I prefer being poor to being in debt. Besides, what would I do with that scrap yard of his?"

"Scrap yard?" Duo looked up, his attention captured. Hilde just glanced over her shoulder.

"More like Mount Shrapnel in his back yard." She pushed up her sleeves and turned on the faucet. "When my sister and I were little, we would climb up the bigger ones and stick flags on the tops." Duo came up behind her and whispered something in her ear.

"Big enough to hide a Gundam?" Hilde turned off the water and twisted around to stare at him with a cocked brow before answering.

"Indefinitely." Duo grinned. This was more than he could have hoped for; a pretty girl and a place to hide out, all wrapped up in one neat little package.

"Hilde my dear, I have a feeling that this is going to be the start of a beautiful relationship." He turned to the very confused group and announced, "The lady and I have a little business to discuss, if you'll excuse us." He wrapped an arm about her shoulders and led her outside.

The alley was lit only by the artificial half moon, and despite all his stealth and grace, Duo still stumbled over the junk that littered the cracked pavement. When Hilde finished laughing at him, he made his proposal.

"I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse." Duo cracked his knuckles and his lips slid into a smarmy grin. "I need a home base; a place I can hide my Gundam and generally chill out between missions. You need an income. I suggest that we work together to fulfill these necessities." He waited before going on.

"I'm listening. . ." she abetted.

"You claim the inheritance, debts and all, and in exchange for a place to sleep at night and a corner of the scrap yard to store Deathscythe away from prying eyes, I will get the joint to start turning out a profit."

"You really think you can save that business? I don't know what Werner has been living on these past few years, but I'm almost certain the scrap yard wasn't it."

"Lets just say I've got some good connections."

"What about the spacebus tickets?"

"Just leave that up to me. A few clicks on a keyboard and it'll can all be taken care of." Hilde pretended to consider his offer, even though in reality she would have accepted any proposition that would allow her to stay near him. But she'd be damned before she let _him _know that.

"Deal." They shook on it and returned to the relative safety of the apartment so that Hilde could announce her plans to her family.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


End file.
